Conveyor systems are used to move individual articles such as solids or free-flowing bulk materials over a horizontal, inclined, declined, or vertical path of travel typically with continuous motion. One type of conveyor system is often found at commercial airports and is for transporting luggage from a loading area to a baggage claim area where the luggage is moved in an endless pattern until claimed. The portion of this type of luggage conveyor system that typically moves the luggage in an endless pattern is frequently referred to as a luggage or baggage carousel.
In the past, luggage carrousels have frequently featured stainless steel pallets that overlap and move relative to one another during operation and upon which the luggage rests while being transported about the endless circulation pattern. The stainless steel pallets have comprised a considerable amount of the expense associated with constructing such a conveyor system and have occasionally developed problems with wear on the pallets. Additionally, the pallets have typically been void of colors or other indicia on the reflective surface of the stainless steel. While some efforts have been made to lower the cost and add indicia to pallets, those efforts have generally been unsatisfactory.
In one approach, decals with printed material or colors or other indicia on them have been applied to the stainless steel pallets. The decals do not lower cost and have experienced problems with wear. Another approach has been to form the panels or pallets from a transparent material such as a polycarbonate or other plastic material and to place printed materials underneath the transparent panels. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,526. Installing and fabricating the transparent panels has involved considerable effort including mounting the printed material and then aligning the panels over the printed matter. Another problem with this approach has been that the plastic wears at an unsatisfactory rate requiring costly maintenance or replacement.
A need has thus arisen for an economical, easily fabricated and installed pallet for use in conveyor systems such as luggage carrousels that allows for durable decorative designs or other indicia to be applied to the pallet.